Action needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, UN and PLO warn, as wheat prices rise by 40% 

Date: 22 / 06 / 2007 Time: 17:32

Bethlehem - Ma'an - 

Despite the fact that some food and medical supplies are now entering the Gaza Strip through the Karm Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, United Nations agencies and the Palestine Liberation Organisation are calling for greater action to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

On Friday, the Palestine Liberation Organisation chief negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, met with representatives of various UN agencies, and the European Union's observer mission at Rafah.

Earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that sixteen of its trucks successfully crossed into Gaza with more trucks planned every day. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reported transporting medical supplies into Gaza.

“The news that some urgently needed supplies have got through the Kerem Shalom crossing is welcome,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in a press release on 20 June. “However, we now need to regularize access for essential goods such as food and medicines, in order to prevent further deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” he added, noting that all other crossing points into Gaza presently remain closed. “That is what we are now working on.”

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also warned that its wheat flour reserves would be exhausted in ten days, while the WFP said its reserves would last for only seven days unless normal imports to the poverty-stricken Gaza Strip resumed. UNRWA provides food aid to 850,000 Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, where the total population is estimated at 1.4 million, while the WFP assists a further 275,000 Gazans.

In his meetings with the UN coordinator of humanitarian operations Kevin Kennedy, and Arnold Vercken and Kirstie Campbell of the World Food Programme, Dr Erekat recalled that, according to the World Bank, 87% Palestinians in Gaza live below the poverty line.

While appreciating the work of the international aid agencies, Dr Erekat informed his guests that, in the Gaza Strip, there is a daily need of 450 tons of flour, 111 tons of sugar, 72 tons of rice, 42 tons of medicine, 35 tons of milk and its derivatives and 45 tons of canned food. In addition, Gaza needs 23 tones of gas per month.

The UN agencies are particularly calling for the opening of the Karni crossing to prevent general food shortages from developing within two to four weeks. UNRWA has 104 containers of food waiting at Isdood (Ashdod) port on the Israeli coast due to the closure of the Karni crossing, the UN added in its press release.

Commercial food stocks are quickly being depleted in Gaza and the price of wheat flour has risen by 40 per cent in the past week, the WFP has warned.

Some medical supplies have arrived through WHO, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). However, the UN warns that fuel supplies for hospital generators and ambulances will be exhausted within one week unless payments to Israeli providers are guaranteed.

“We need to ensure that all the civilian populations’ emergency needs are met and quickly,” stressed Mr. Holmes in the press release.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent a surgical team to assist staff at Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and has been sending supplies of antibiotics and analgesics, as well as dressing materials and other surgical supplies, but it has warned that long-term economic aid is what is really needed.

"This is a medical emergency and we are doing what we can to cover the needs in Gaza's hospitals," said Christoph Harnisch, the head of the ICRC's delegation for Israel and the Palestinian territories, in a press release issued 21 June. "But that is only part of the problem. Even before the events of last week, the situation in Gaza was difficult."

The ICRC, which is acting as an intermediary between health officials in Gaza and the Israeli authorities, also reported that 12 wounded Palestinian adults and one child suffering from leukaemia have been evacuated to hospitals in Israel.

"There are still many more wounded who need to be transferred," explained Eileen Daly, the ICRC's medical coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza. "There are also many people suffering from chronic ailments such as cancer and renal diseases who require treatment not available in Gaza. It has been a week now since the fighting stopped, but only a few individuals have been allowed out for treatment."

The ICRC also joined the international chorus calling for the crossing points to be opened.

"The almost complete closure of crossing points in and out of Gaza and the lack of contact between the authorities on both sides is aggravating a situation that cannot be dealt with by providing humanitarian assistance alone," said Mr Harnisch. "Long-term economic aid and commercial exchanges are the only sustainable ways of helping the people of Gaza."

In his meeting with Maj. Gen. Pietro Pistolese, the head of the EU Border Assistance Mission at Rafah, Erekat also urged the European Union to keep its observers at the Rafah crossing and not withdraw them "under any circumstances."

 

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